' - 3a-p3vi- 

^OD  NEWS 
INSTITUTE 


J 


Kev,  3Iiir:i<»ka  (center)  and 
sniiie  friends  on  the  y\ny  to 
an  outpost  meetiiiji^  result- 
ing from  a newspaper  ad- 
vertisement concerning  the 
Christian  religion. 


The  Good  News  Institute 


To  the  Good  News  Institute:  “I  am  so  weakened  that  1 am  just  skin  and  bones. 

My  sickness  is  tuberculosis.  I wonder  if  I shall  live  until  November.  Day 
before  yesterday  1 received  baptism  in  bed.  I am  sorry  it  could  not  be  in 
th  e sea.  But  I m greatly  blessed.  My  soul  is  always  peaceful.  Being 
prepared  for  death,  I’m  wrapped  up  in  joy  unspeakable.  I’m  going  to  His 
Kingdom.  Oh,  what  joy,  what  blessedness  that  is!  1 can  meet  Jesus.  When 
1 just  think  of  that,  my  heart  dances  . . . .”  This  is  one  of  the  letters 
received  at  the  office  of  the  Newspaper  Evangelism  and  came  from  a young 
woman  who  was  dying.  She  had  been  a member  of  the  reading  club  of  this 
organization  for  thirty-five  months  and  in  that  time  had  read  eighty-six  books  and 
introduced  many  of  her  friends  to  Christ. 


This  letter  is  typical  of  the  letters  which  are  received  at  the  office  of  this  great  work 
and  indicates  how  much  joy  the  services  of  the  institute  have  brought.  The  title, 
Newspaper  Evangelism,  is  comparatively  new  in  missionary  terms.  About  fifteen  years 
ago.  Rev.  A.  Pieters,  a missionary  in  Oita  City,  Japan,  began  systematically  to  use  the 
newspaper  for  the  spread  of  the  good  news  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  tried  the  idea  for  seven 
years  and  in  that  time  became  so  convinced  of  its  worth  that  he  went  to  the  Conference 
of  the  Federated  Missions  (the  organization  of  the  various  missionaries  working  in  Japan) 
and  put  the  plan  before  them.  They  appointed  a committee  on  Newspaper  Evangelism 
and  so  the  movement  became  interdenominational. 


During  Rev.  Pieters’  furlough,  in  1920,  he  succeeded  in  interesting  individuals  and 
organizations  in  his  project,  with  the  result  that  when  he  returned  to  his  post  in  Japan 
he  had  with  him  $5,000  to  carry  on  the  work  for  the  first  year.  His  original  dream  had 
been  to  establish  a central  office  in  Tokyo,  but  funds  did  not  justify  this  and  so  the 
central  office  was  located  in  Fukuoka  in  April,  1921,  and  Rev.  Pieters  became  the  first 


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The  News  Institute  <Ko-on  Ivwan)  otKee  t‘<>ree  at  work  in  the  Garnian  Mission 

II  OIII4S  'rok>4>.  It  haiulles  the  leniling  lihr«iry«  newspaper  sind  correspondence  evstng'elisni 
w(»i‘k.  ]^Ir.  t^arinan  sits  at  the  desk,  to  the  left,  writing’;  Mr.  K.  Ando,  one  of  our  theolog;- 

ical  students,  is  seated  in  the  center  -with  the  filing'  cabinet;  3Ir.  T.  Oishi,  stands  at  the 
ri^'ht,  wrappings  books  f4»r  inailin^^'. 


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The  work  is  supported  by 
gifts  and  appropriations  from 
Missions  and  small  fees  which 
those  who  join  the  reading  club 
must  pay.  Our  own  church  is 
supporting  it  this  year  to  the 
extent  of  one  thousand  dollars, 
a part  of  which  is  being  raised 
by  groups  of  young  people  who 
are  attracted  by  the  possibilities 
of  this  missionary  method. 

Our  own  Mr.  Garman  had 
begun  to  use  the  columns  of  the 
newspapers  for  Christian  advertising  about  as  far  back  as  1916.  He  had  also  begun  a 
Christian  library  from  which  books  could  be  loaned  to  applicants  by  mail,  and  corre- 
spondence by  which  the  personal  problems  of  the  applicant  might  be  dealt  with.  For  a 
number  of  years  he  carried  on  this  work  in  the  northern  field,  but  when  a branch  office, 
as  before  mentioned,  of  the  interdenominational  movement  was  established  here,  he  trans- 
ferred his  work  to  the  Middle  Field,  using  one  of  the  Utsunomiya  papers,  and  Mr.  McKnight 
became  the  secretary  in  Sendai. 

Mr.  Garman  says:  “The  advantages  of  this  form  of  work  are  that  with  the  exception 
of  the  first  step,  contributing  articles  and  advertising  in  the  newspapers,  one  is  dealing 
with  persons  already  interested  to  a greater  or  less  degree;  also  it  reaches  those  who  for 


1.  Tills  young'  fnrnior  is  reading  about  the  Cliri.stian 
religion  through  our  advertisement  in  a Jaiianese 
daily  newspaper  while  his  mother  “irons”  the  elothe.s. 
What  he  reads  appears  in  the  next  pieture.  Notice 
the  “hoe”  or  “plow”  he  has  by  him. 


manager.  During  the  first  year 
of  its  existence  2,499  persons 
wrote  to  the  office  for  pamph- 
lets, 598  joined  the  reading 
club,  and  1 3 baptisms  were  re- 
ported. So  successful  was  its 
work  that  in  1922  four  branch 
offices  were  opened,  one  of 
them  being  in  our  own  field, 
Sendai. 


*2,  Here  is  what  the  >01111;?  man  is 
rendiii;?.  On  the  eross  are  the  words, 
**Hiinianit>'*s  Ii;?lit,  life's  li;?ht,  men's 
li;?ht  is  Jesus  Christ."  At  the  side 
are  the  words,  ^*In  Him  is  life  and 
the  life  is  the  liu'ht  of  men."  Corre- 
spondence with  our  office  is  invited. 


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some  reason  are  unable  or  unwilling  to  attend 
the  local  church  to  get  their  teaching  or,  more 
frequently,  those  who  are  too  far  from  churches 
to  attend.  Frequently  we  find  our  applicants 
are  in  trouble  and  in  need  of  a friend  or  at 
least  of  some  one  to  whom  they  may  tell  their 
troubles. 

"Many  applicants  continue  their  correspond- 
ence with  us  but  for  a short  time,  or  read  but  a 
book  or  two.  We  send  them  copies  of  our 
church  paper,  in  which  we  have  certain  pages 
intended  especially  for  enquirers  and  including  a 
contributor’s  column,  a column  for  announcing 
new  books,  etc.  Others  ask  for  introduction  to 
pastors,  ioin  the  nearest  church,  and  thereafter 
get  much  of  their  instruction  from  that  channel. 
One  man  who  is  now  taking  the  Correspondence 
Course  received  his  early  instruction  from  us  and 
on  our  introduction  united  with  the  nearest 
church,  which  happened  to  be  an  Episcopal 
Church,  in  a neighboring  town.  Later  corre- 
spondence reveals  that  his  doctrinal  belief  is 
colored  by  Episcopal  teaching,  which  is  but 
natural.  We  continue  our  teaching  as  desired 
on  the  basis  that  we  are  now  supplemental  to  the 
church  of  which  he  is  a member,  and  in  no  way 
in  opposition  to  it.  Another  of  our  members  is  a 
Christian  past  middle  age,  formerly  a Methodist, 
but  now  affiliating  with  a Holiness  Church.  He 
is  a diligent  Bible  student  and  talks  of  giving  the 
remainder  of  his  life  to  direct  Christian  work, 


which  will  probably  be  in  the  group  with  which 
he  now  affiliates.  Our  work  is  to  help  him  as  best 
we  can  in  his  preparation. 

“Naturally,  many  of  the  people  who  answer  our 
newspaper  advertisements  know  little  or  nothing  of 
Christian  teaching.  Recently,  a young  man  re- 
sponded on  a postal  with  the  brief  statement, 
‘Wanted:  Sample  of  Christ.’  To  these  applicants 
we  always  send  a questionnaire,  asking  of  the  edu- 
cational attainments,  their  religious  affiliations, 
their  knowledge  of  Christian  teaching,  etc.  To  the 
question,  ‘Are  you  a Christian?’  one  reply  was, 
‘More  or  less.’  We  felt  the  writer  unconsciously 
diagnosed  the  cases  of  a very  large  number  of 
people  with  fewer  advantages  than  his. 

“A  number  of  years  ago  some  students  in  a 
Middle  School  at  Karasuyama,  a town  off  of  the 
beaten  track  and  then  without  even  a light  railway, 
noticed  our  newspaper  advertisement  that  Chris- 
tian teaching  would  be  given  by  correspondence  to 
applicants.  The  first  applicant  informed  others 
and  it  was  not  long  before  we  had  five  or  six  regu- 
lar correspondents.  Some  of  these  graduated  and 
went  elsewhere,  some  asking  for  introductions  to 
churches  and  some  ceasing  their  relations  with  us. 
Always  before  graduation  the  old  members  of  the 
circle  were  careful  to  see  that  their  places  were 
filled  by  members  from  lower  classes.  At  last  a 
light  railway  was  built  to  the  town  and  soon  Rev. 
Fry  and  his  co-laborers  began  to  hold  meetings 
there,  with  our  members  as  a nucleus.  The  two 
following  letters  show  some  of  their  later  activities 
and  aspirations: 


3.  The  youns  man  lay.s  a.side  his 
paper  and  at  once  applies  for  in- 
sfriietion  in  the  Christian  way  of 
iife  from  our  Newspaper  Evangel- 
ism oiliee.  This  will  include  the  loan 
of  Christian  hooks  and  instruction 
ill  the  Word  of  God. 


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4.  The  yoiinj^  man  has  received  his 
first  Christian  book,  which  he  rends 
as  he  soes  out  to  work  with  a 
companion,  who  also  learns  of  the 
“liKht.”  Thus  the  correspondence 
enqnirer  in  turn  becomes  a personai 
worker. 


"Karasuyama,  July  8,  1925. 

"To  the  Good  News  Institute:  We  trust  that  this 
finds  Mr.  Carman  and  all  of  you  in  good  health. 
The  members  of  our  club,  who  are  likewise  mem- 
bers of  your  Good  News  Society,  are  very  anxious 
to  hold  tent  meetings  during  the  coming  summei 
vacation.  We  are  troubled  for  want  of  a tent  to 
carry  out  this  plan.  Could  you  provide  us  with 
one,  even  a small  one  could  be  made  to  serve,  or 
is  this  asking  too  much? 

Good  News  Members.” 

“Karasuyama,  September,  1925. 

"To  the  Good  News  Institute:  It  is  just  a year 
ago  this  month  that  the  'Companions  in  Learning’ 
came  to  life  through  the  co-operation  of  Good 
News  Institute  members  and  Salvation  Army  mem- 
bers and  now  it  is  like  a plant  putting  out  leaf  and 
blade,  or  a child  that  has  just  begun  to  talk,  and  is 
attracting  the  notice  of  the  general  public.  Rev. 
Tsujimura,  who  gave  himself  so  unstintedly  for  us 
weak  folks,  is  still  confined  to  his  bed  with  suffering 
and  Rev.  Kimura  has  begun  to  visit  us  as  an  out- 
post from  Utsunomiya.  We  held  the  first  anni- 
versary meeting  of  the  organization  of  our  society 
on  September  26.  Mr.  Totsuka  Unpei,  a young 
man  under  the  railway  employ,  made  the  prepara- 
tions for  a large  public  meeting.  It  was  a little 
surprising  that  the  attendance  was  not  larger.  I 
think  that  we  are  very  fortunate  to  have  the  Way 
of  the  Master  taught  to  us  even  in  this  secluded 
mountain  town.  I have  not  the  least  doubt  that 
progress  will  continue  to  be  made.  H.  K.” 


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TKe  following  is  a typical 
letter  from  another  country 
town : 


5.  The  young  man  anti  other  enquirers  reeeived  a call 
from  one  of  our  Japanese  pastors,  who  “expounds  the 
word”  from  “The  Book  of  Life.”  So  the  story  of 
Christ  is  carried,  and  tlie  number  of  those  who  learn 
to  know  and  follow  him  continues  to  grow. 


and  read,  if  only  a page  or  two. 
books. 


“To  the  Good  News  Institute: 
By  your  kindness  1 have  been 
able  to  use  the  books  borrowed 
from  you  for  a very,  very  long 
time  and  1 am  most  grateful. 
Both  of  the  books  were  good, 
but  the  ‘Student’s  Manual’  1 
read  every  day  without  fail.  1 
think  that  every  boy  and  young 
man  should  read  this  book,  not 
allowing  a single  line  or  letter 
escape  him.  1 found  it  a very 
helpful  book,  indeed.  Every 
month  1 visit  a village  some 
twenty  miles  distant  three  or 
four  times,  peddling  from  door 
to  door.  Not  once  did  I neglect 
to  carry  the  book  with  me. 
Every  time  1 reached  my  stop- 
ping place  1 took  out  the  book 
1 hope  that  you  will  kindly  lend  me  other  helpful 


W.  E.” 


“To  the  Good  News  Institute:  Many  thanks  for  the  loan  of  the  Bible.  1 who  have 
always  been  so  crooked  of  heart  have  already  become  so  honest  as  to  surprise  myself. 
But  1 still  lack  about  999  out  of  1,000  of  being  really  honest  yet.  But  every  day  1 am 
improving,  1 believe.  1 hope  ultimately  to  become  entirely  honest.  However,  my  duties 
prevent  me  from  reading  as  I would  like  to  do.  Especially  is  this  the  case  as  1 must 


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wait  on  guests  and  can  only  find  time  for  reading  after  all  have  retired.  At  first  I 
forgot  to  pray  morning  and  evening,  but  now  1 never  miss.  I am  rejoiced  at  this,  which 
is  also  the  teaching  of  Christ  and  of  your  Institute.  The  proprietor’s  family  are  all 
Shingon  (Buddhist  Sect)  followers,  so  ever  since  the  mistress  found  me  praying  one  night 
she  has  continuously  spoken  evil  of  Christ,  but  as  1 had  already  taken  my  stand,  I have 
not  wavered.  The  former  self  would  have  been  easily  influenced,  but  1 have  recently 
become  obedient  to  God.  As  this  has  all  come  about  through  the  aid  of  the  Bible  loaned 
me,  please  accept  hearty  thanks.  Yours  gratefully, 

K.  K." 

“The  preceding  letter  is  one  from  a thirteen-year-old  girl  who  is  absent  from  her 
country  home  as  a waitress  in  a tea-house  of  a small  city.  Having  seen  our  newspaper 
notice  that  instruction  in  Christian  teaching  would  be  given,  she  responded  by  postal. 
A letter  was  written  her  and  a book  sent  which  she  mistook  for  a Bible.  This  is  a 
translation  of  her  second  letter.” 

We  are  indebted  to  both  Mr.  Carman  and  Mr.  McKnight  for  the  information  con- 
tained in  this  interesting  article.  As  we  have  already  indicated,  the  Christian  Church, 
through  these  two  brethren,  is  taking  a very  active  part  in  Newspaper  Evangelism.  A 
recent  note  from  Mr.  McKnight  states  that  there  are  now  eight  hundred  enquirers  being 
reached  through  this  means  in  our  Sendai  field  alone.  With  a corresponding  work  being 
carried  on  in  the  Utsunomiya  field  by  Mr.  Carman,  we  feel  that  the  Christian  Church  is 
actively  engaged  month  after  month  in  one  of  the  most  effective  means  of  reaching 
Japan  for  Christ  that  has  ever  been  attempted.  We  rejoice  that  our  young  people  are 
seeing  the  importance  and  the  possibilities  of  this  type  of  service  and  that  they  are 
supporting  it  so  splendidly.  We  hope  that  larger  support  will  be  given  this  work  by  our 
whole  Church,  so  that  it  may  become  a greater  factor  in  the  evangelization  of  Japan. 


These  frienils  at  Karsisuyaiiia  learned  of  the  Christian 
religion  through  the  daily  newspaper  evangelism  of 
our  Japan  Mission.  Rev.  Kimura  (tallest  man  in  back 
row  to  right)  pastor  at  IJtsunomiya  is  now  holding 
regular  services  at  this  new'  outpost.  Does  it  pay? 


The  Christian  Church 

Foreign  Mission  Department 

W.  P.  Minton,  Secretary 
C.  P.  A.  Bldg.  Dayton,  Ohio 


